“Birthdays mark time. But they also give us a chance to focus on what really matters in our lives; to recommit ourselves to the values we believe in, to the people we care about, and to the work still left to do.” (A quote from Michelle Obama as she celebrates Barack’s 65th)
Happy Birthday Barack!
I celebrated my 87th last month, and Michelle’s quote really spoke to me. Yes, birthdays do mark time. But I agree, they give us a chance to gather together with people we really care about, and recommit ourselves to the values we believe in.
My values are mirrored by Pete Buttigieg in his “Rules of the Road”
My faith points to those values and to the greatest of these: Just love one another!May your birthdays be those reminders Michelle talks about, and may you have a long and healthy and prosperous and fruitful life!
Each month our Madison Valley Woman’s Club meets for lunch and a business meeting. My role in the organization is to be their “Inspirational Leader.” As such, I share a message with the ladies – – – and this year I have chosen a selection each month out of my journal titled, “I Can, and I Will… Watch Me!”
Today’s “I Can” message was titled, “I Can Share.” And what I shared was the ideas from a link my friend, Lee, sent me titled “Embrace Values.”
Embrace Values
Wearing a $300 or a $3 watch – – They both tell the same time.
Whether they carry a $300 purse or a $3 handbag from the Nearly New – – The amount of money on the inside is the same.
Whether we drive a $150K car or a $30K car, – The road and distance are the same and we get to the same destination.
Whether we drink a bottle of $300 or $10 wine (if we drink it all) – The hangover is the same.
Whether the house we live in is 300 sq. ft. or 30,000 sq. ft, – The loneliness is the same.
You will realize your true happiness does not come from – the material things in this world.
Whether you fly first class or economy, – If the plane goes down – you go with it.
Therefore… I hope you realize – When you have mates, buddies, and old friends, brothers and sisters who you chat with, laugh with, talk and pray with, sing songs with, talk about north, south, east, and west, that is true happiness! And they will share and agree with you on these:
Five Undeniable Facts of Life
Don’t educate your children to be rich, – educate them to be happy so they will know the value of things, not the price.
Best awarded words in London: – Eat your food as your medicine – otherwise you will have to eat your medicine as food.
The ones who love you will never leave you for another – because even if there are 100 reasons to give up, he/she will find one reason to hold on.
There is a big difference between a human being and being human, – only a few really understand it.
You are loved when you are born. You will be loved when you die. – In between, you just have to learn to manage!
NOTE: If you just want to walk fast, walk alone! But if you want to walk far, walk together! – Thank you for walking together with one another here in this, Our Madison Valley!! God bless you!!
Our ladies in the Madison Valley Woman’s Club are those kinds of friends. We are so blessed to have one another to work with, laugh with, meet with, and care for. Thank you, Ladies! I love you!!
The value of tidbits of advice differs as we hear them at different times in our lives.
As a young child, my mom’s advice always included words of encouragement: “Let your light shine.” “You can be anything you decide you want to be.” “You are more than good enough.” “Take it one day at a time.”
Mom certainly let her light shine!!
Later in life, I have discovered that I can receive valuable advice daily by reading my Bible, reading devotionals written by Christ-like, modern-day disciples, and listening to compassionate friends. They say things like:
We should never tire of seeking advice and heeding the words of wise counsel. http://www.Motivational Words of Wisdom.com always has sound advice.
It’s hard (in fact impossible for me) to narrow pieces of advice down to the one best. How about you?
God’s latest advice to me was, “Slow down and watch where you’re going!” Do you hear God’s advice being shouted in your ear at times, too?
We overdid ourselves today with five “not so simple” tasks: 1) Get helpers to reassemble our fridge, move it back into the kitchen, and hook it up to water, etc. 2) Move the downstairs rug & pad up into the dining room 3) Move the living room rug and pad back to its place 4) Hang a few pictures back on the wall in the hallway and entry 5) Vacuum the new floors in the living room, dining room, and kitchen & dust everything
It was harder than it sounds – even with wonderful helpers!!
I am going to go to Bob with #8 and then Take you up on #5
Which of those 9 pieces of advice do you think will work best for you today?
Tomorrow gotta clean that fridge and put stuff back into it (Oh – it’ll be so nice to have it accessible again!)
Good night!
Thanks for visiting JanBeek today… See ya tomorrow (God willing)…
I was off-line as we traveled safely home yesterday. Thank you for your prayers! God heard. God answered. The weather conditions (except for one little patch of dense fog just before Twin Falls – out of Jackpot) and the roads were clear and perfect. We are happy to be home!
Coming through Island Park, guided by the moonlight
The Alpine glow of the sky led us homeward in joyful anticipation
The Bloganuary prompt yesterday asked us to consider a “Life Lesson” worth remembering. I cannot do more justice to this question than to share with you this blog from “Written Word.” It’s perfect!
My response to her was to be sure that heart is filled with the voice of the Holy Spirit. Following such advice will always lead to satisfaction. God bless you!
Keeping up with the daily prompts from Bolganuary can be difficult when traveling. I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed from a fellow blogger today. Have a wonderful Sunday! <3
WordPress started a new program called Bloganuary each day they’ll give us a writing prompt. I’ll see if I can find inspiration in this new program – and share comments with some fellow bloggers I haven’t met before.
My 2021 blogs all began with my word for the year, “Embrace.” We had spent 2020 with the absence of hugs … and that was really hard for me. It was not difficult to think of a subject to embrace each day.
Our daughter, De, at age 19.
Now, let’s see what my life experience can do with these new daily prompts!
What Advice Would I Give to My Teenage Self?
I wrote a poem for my daughter, DeAna, when she was 19, married her sweetheart, André, and left us in CA to go live with him in his home country of Switzerland. My advice to her was wrapped up in this poem. It’s the same advice I would have given to my own teenage self:
I hope you are able to read that, dear blogging friends. And I hope you have been given (and can give in return) “Gifts Your Kids Can’t Break”
God bless you this New Year’s Day. May 2022 be a memorable year of many hugs and many blessings from Our Lord to you and your loved ones.
Please pray for my husband, Bob, who is in ER right now with congestive heart failure.
Who am I to tell you How to live your life? Who am I to suggest Ways to eliminate strife?
Simplicity’s elusive In this world of more and more. Simplicity’s evasive For both the rich and poor.
When we live in a world of plenty We have more than we need, lots more. We have so much it pushes its way Onto the chairs and into the floor.
We go out shopping for others And find a book we can’t live without. No more room on our bookshelves – “Stop! Embrace Simplicity!” our houses all shout.
Embrace Simplicity!
We go out shopping for others And some absolutely essential gift Jumps off the shelf and tells us, “You need this for your own spirit lift!”
But living with less stuff and clutter Is the best spirit lifter you will find. Let’s embrace simplicity, my friends. It’s an important clearing of the mind!
Like weeds in an otherwise garden of beauty, Your mind and your home need clear space! Get rid of the clutter and give your brain room To live in simplicity and to exude love and grace.
Maybe this Christmas my shopping Should be in my own cluttered house. Instead of searching, stressing, and buying, I wonder who’d like that lovely red blouse?
I’m off to see if I can follow my own advice. Wouldn’t that be nice? But, I really like that blouse… Maybe I’ll have to think twice!
Have a Simply Happy Week, my friends. All I want for Christmas is YOU visiting me here!! See ya tomorrow (God willing) Love, JanBeek
We were having one of my favorite meals, spaghetti with meat sauce, when I first told my family that I had broken up with my fiance’. My dad nearly choked on his mouthful. My mom shoved her plate of spaghetti half-way across the table!
To this day, I can’t eat spaghetti with meat sauce without remembering that day.
My fiance’ and I had been engaged for about a year. He was in the army, stationed in Germany. I was a senior in college, missing the social life, trying to remain true to my engagement. I wanted to attend the school’s dances and other social functions. It was hard!
Rather than being untrue to my boyfriend who was so far away (we had not seen each other in six months), I broke off with him. Obviously, my parents were devastated. Especially when they learned the guy I wanted to date was a divorce’.
“Why buy a used car when you can have a new one?” my dad finally spoke. Then he got up and walked out of the room. (Yes, Dad was a man of few words, but a list of prejudices a mile long!)
Mom followed him, without speaking a word. That was so unlike her.
Proverbs 6: 20-23
20 My son, obey your father’s commands,and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. 21 Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck. 22 When you walk, their counsel will lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up, they will advise you. 23 For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life.
The man I broke up with was from a family very much like my own. He grew up in the same area I did. We shared common roots. My parent and his got along wonderfully. The man I wanted to date was nine years older than I. I won’t get into why he was so attractive to me, but suffice to say, my parents’ dismay touched me deeply.
They let me have my “fling.” They did not bad-mouth my new friend. But when my ex-boyfriend came home on leave, they invited him over. When I returned home from college that weekend, he was there. I realized how much I loved him. That love has carried us through 58 years of marriage. Not always perfect, not always blissful, but always respectful, and always knitted together in prayer, faith in God, and common purpose. The love has grown as years passed – and I am grateful every day for my parents’ wisdom.
Put a plate of spaghetti and meatballs in front of me. I can taste the kindness of my parents in every meatball. I can hear my mom’s silence and feel her prayers in every slurp of pasta. I feel my dad’s concern about age differences and divorce. I keep their love in my heart with every Italian meal! God bless ’em!!
Today at d’Verse we are trying a new form of poetry. Synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon in which stimulation of one sense leads to automatic, involuntary experiences of a second one. There are over 80 types of synesthesia described by science. Nearly every combination of sensory experiences or cognitive concepts is possible.
Seeing music as colors is one form of synesthesia. Perceiving letters as personalities is another one, or seeing numbers in color. Even hearing colors or touching smells.
How about tasting memories? Do you have any of those?
This post is a combination prompt: 1) My Madison Valley Writers’ Group Prompt was the title of the blog, and 2) the d’Verse prompt informed the style and content. It’s not poetry… but it may qualify as Synesthesia. What do you think?
